01:02 pm - We're going Sobotka Crazy over The Wire Season 2The primary Guy To Watch in the second season of The Wire is thedockworker and union chief Frank Sobotka, whose only crime at the timean investigation is launched against him is that he bothered to -talk-with his local church before donating a stained glass window (asopposed to the Baltimore Police major who surprises the parish withhis own stained glass window donation, only to get Incredibly Offendedwhen the church says "Well, uh, the dockworkers already gave us awindow.")

I love that. The catalyst for the entire season is a tiny disputeover a stained-glass window. (The actual murders that are discoveredin the first episode don't kickstart anything. The Major has toget his panties in a wad before he even considers sending cops over totake a look at Sobotka's yard, and all the authorities who may have toinvestigate this murder are too busy trying to force 'em off on theothers.)

Anyway, the think about Frank Sobotka is that he's got one hell of areaction shot to him. It's not so much a reaction shot as it is areaction glare, really. There are so many scenes in which hisglare takes over. First there's an establishing shot of the yardoffice. Then we go inside and see Frank sitting at his desk doing hiswork or whatever. Then there's a commotion outside. Frank either looksout a window or steps outside for a closer view.

What could it be? Oh, it could be the discovery of a shipping cratefull of dead bodies! That pesky dock cop Beatrice could be drivingaround again. Frank's useless son Ziggy might be getting into a fightor otherwise behaving like a buffoon. Maybe two dogs are getting iton! Or maybe the guys just found a plastic bag being blown around likethe wind and they're all watching it and saying it's the mostbeautiful thing ever.

No matter what is going on, however, Frank reacts in the same way: Hiseyes go wide, his brow furrows, and his nostrils flare. It's the FrankSobotka Glare, ladies and gentlemen, and it's a doozy.

Were Frank to have his own Facebook page, it'd be easy to maintain.All he would have to do is set his status to this:

Comments:

The Wire is one of the best shows that I have seen on Television. When HBO wrapped up the last season, I was lucky to have noticed that they were airing each season, on ON Demand leading up to it. So I got to watch them a season at a time.

I didn't have HBO (much less cable TV I don't think!) when The Wire began, so I was pretty much in the dark about the entire series for most of its run. When Season 5 came around I was first told "You gotta see it!" and then "No, wait, no, you gotta see it from the beginning" and by the time I got around to watching through most of the seasons, 5 was over and I was burnt out.

Now I'm trying again. I can't quite put my finger on what makes it such a brilliant television program, other than the fact that there are many spots I see in each episode where I think "Okay, if it had been any other show, they'd have totally messed up here."

This motherfucking show owns my motherfucking life right now and I can't even believe how good it is and I have spent a good percentage of the last 48 hours basically blackmailing my father, boyfriend, and another good friend of mine to start watching it with me. It is even better watching the second time around for the amount of stuff you can miss the first time.

And Season 2 is actually my least favorite (though am only just starting Season 5). And I still think Season 2 is totally amazing.

I have yet to watch 5. To do so, though, I have decided to rewatch the entire thing again up until 5, just so's I know I'm Fully Caught Up(tm).

Personally I think 3 is the weakest season. But I don't care too much for the political side of it all, so I focus pretty much on the Barksdales there. Brother Mouzone is one bad shut your mouth I'm just talkin bout Brother Mouzone and we can dig it.

I really liked 2 in that it provided both a radical shift from the Barksdale investigation, yet still was able to dovetail plot points from it in. That and, yes, The Frank Sobotka Glare.

But Season 4, holy crap, I cannot wait until I am done with 3 so I can relive the joy of 4.

The thing that occurred to me watching this season (which I just did like a week ago) is how rare it is to see blue-collar, non-WASP guys like Frank on television. For a while, there was Galen Tyrol and his deck gang on BSG (I loved the throwaway about how Cally had only joined the service to pay for dental school), but now he's a Cylon and all, so it no longer really counts.

The Frank Sobotka Glare is an awesome thing indeed. And one of the things I've liked most about The Wire is how so often what happens is due to petty grudges, personal vendettas, or even random happenstance.

Chris Bauer showed up on a recent episode of Fringe, complete with Frank Sobotka Glare.